CBS, Fox to air Comey hearing live

Two broadcast networks announced plans to air former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Thursday at 10 a.m.

“CBS This Morning” co-hosts Charlie Rose, Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell will anchor live coverage for CBS News, which will also feature analysis from “Face The Nation” anchor and chief Washington correspondent John Dickerson and chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford.

Fox will also cover the highly anticipated testimony, with Fox News’s Shepard Smith anchoring coverage on the broadcast side.  

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On the cable side, Fox News’s coverage will be co-anchored by Bill Hemmer and Shannon Bream, with contributions coming via a panel including chief political anchor Bret Baier, “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace and “The Five” co-host Dana Perino, a former White House press secretary to President George W. Bush. 

CNN has already begun using a countdown broadcast graphic ticking off the days until the Comey hearing on June 8. For big events in the past, CNN eventually breaks down its countdown clocks to hours and minutes leading up to the start. 

MSNBC, which has enjoyed its best ratings year since 2008 leading up to and since President Trump took office, will also offer wall-to-wall coverage as well. Exact plans for the network should be announced soon, according to a network spokesperson. 

The Hill has reached out to NBC News and ABC News for comment on their plans for Thursday. 

The coverage plans come in as the White House said Monday it will not try to block Comey from testifying in his first public comments since Trump fired him last month.

“President Trump will not assert executive privilege regarding James Comey’s testimony,” White House deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during a news briefing Monday.

Comey will discuss the ongoing FBI investigation into last year’s Russian election meddling, and lawmakers are widely expect to ask if Trump pressured him to end the probe.